'Important. If you don't read this, your broadband could be disconnected'

By John Oates

Published Thursday 3rd July 2008

The BPI has written to 800 Virgin Media customers warning them to stop sharing music files or risk losing their broadband connection.

The letters came in an envelope marked: "Important. If you don't read this, your broadband could be disconnected." But Virgin told Radio 1's Newsbeat that the phrase was a mistake and the letters were part of an education campaign. Virgin said it was not making any kind of accusation and that it was possible someone other than the account holder was involved.

When the Virgin campaign was revealed last month the company assured us that the letters were not part of a "three strikes" process. The BPI has pushed ISPs to warn users three times for copyright infringement before cutting off their broadband.

The individuals were identified by the BPI which, as we exclusively revealed , is working on a similar scheme with BT. The BPI letter sent on by BT warns of further action including "litigation and suspension by BT your internet connection".

At least one Virgin customer who received a letter in June told Newsbeat he was certain it was not him or his flatmates who were responsible for downloading the Amy Winehouse song. He said it was possible that someone had used the flat's wireless network.

Will McGree said: "The campaign is doomed to fail. Virgin will lose a lot of customers over this because people don't like to be accused of stealing music over their morning coffee.

"It made me feel betrayed. I was under the impression that I paid a broadband company to keep my internet propecia 10 years connection protected."

The BPI has been busy lobbying the government for stronger laws against file sharing. But the government seems to be resisting the pressure and is instead pushing the music industry and ISPs to get talking to find a licensed, and paid for, form of file sharing.

Although BT and Virgin are supporting the BPI's approach others, notably Carphone Warehouse, are refusing to co-operate.

A survey last month found 63 per cent of internet users were downloading unlicensed music.

I know today isn't our normal Digital Photography day, but with today being the Fourth of July, I figured this tip would come in handy for a lot of you. So, if you're heading out to see fireworks tonight, be sure to take your camera along and follow these suggestions. If you do, you'll have fireworks photos like never before. Let's go!

First off, I want to stress that fireworks are tricky. There's no getting around it. There's no digital silver bullet to make this one any easier. Even people who have shot fireworks for years sometimes find it challenging. In order to shoot really good fireworks, you'll more than likely have to get into the manual mode on your camera, adjust the shutter speeds, ISOs and apertures. Since any one of the above would constitute a multi-week series, we'll have to do our best in the space we have!

Let's start with the easy stuff. Before the camera ever gets set up, you'll need to arrive early and scout out a good location. Find a place that gives you a good view, with no large light sources nearby (for instance, street or parking lot lights, headlights, etc). Big lights tend to "muddy" the scene and bleed into the photo.

Also, consider an alternate area you can move to quickly to get a better angle, should your first location turn out to be less than desirable. You know, overrun with flashlight carrying kids or something like that! Oh, and make sure your equipment isn't going to be in the way of other spectators.

Next, take extra supplies. Grab extra batteries, a small flashlight, all the memory cards you have and my personal favorite, bug spray (there's nothing like trying to shoot fireworks with a mosquito buzzing in your ear!)

The best fireworks photos are long exposures, usually two to 15 seconds. As such, you'll need a tripod of some sort. It doesn't have to be real fancy, just something to keep the camera still while you shoot. Sorry, no matter how steady you think you are, those types of exposures are not hand holdable. Also, if your camera has a cable release, bring that along too.

Okay, so far, this hasn't been too bad, but now we're getting into the shark infested waters of camera settings!

Lens – You'll probably want to shoot at a medium to wide angle focal length. That really depends on how far away you are from the fireworks and how big they get. The idea is to point your camera where you think they're going to be and shoot. If you have way too much sky once you start shooting, zoom in a little. If you're only getting pieces of the display, zoom out.

Quality – Set your camera to its highest quality setting. JPEGs produce "artifacts," which are much more evident when shooting between areas of light and dark. Also, the higher quality may give you less "noise" and possibly better looking colors.

Flash – Shut it off. Even if it could reach, it wouldn't help. All it's going to do is irritate the people around you and give snapshots of the backs of their heads.

ISO – This is your digital "film speed." Although it seems like you would want the fastest you can get, the reverse is true. You'll want to set this to the lowest setting you have, probably around 100 or 200.

Why? Because I said so, that's why! Actually, the higher your ISO, the more "noise" the camera picks up during long exposures. ("Noise" refers to the little random, off colored pixels you see in photos). And since noise is the most noticeable in dark areas, you want to keep it to a minimum.

Focus – This is a big issue for any camera while shooting fireworks. If you try to rely on auto focus, you'll be lucky to get the shot before the explosion fades away. You need to manually set your focus at infinity (all the way out).

I know, I know, you have an auto focus camera, so how do you manually focus it? Three exciting possibilities exist for you:

First, you probably have a setting called "Landscape" mode. It's usually depicted by a mini mountain range. It focuses the camera at infinity. As long as it can be used in conjunction with a manual exposure, you're all set.

The second option is that you actually do have a primitive manual focus mode. Not all cameras will include this feature and the ones that do, kind of toss it in as an afterthought. However, it might be worth checking your instruction manual just to see if your camera can do it and what types of digital gymnastics you'll need to perform in order to use it.

The last possibility is that your camera actually has a "fireworks" mode. If it does, it may not only help you with the focusing problem, but also with the next issue.

Aperture and Shutter Speed – This is the hardest part, but I can give you some recommended settings.

If your camera has a manual mode (usually depicted with an "M" on the setting dial), choose that. Then set the aperture (lens opening) between eight and 16. The aperture controls how much light comes through the lens. The higher the number, the less light there will be.

The next manual setting is the shutter speed. That controls how long the shutter is open. Start with two seconds and then increase the time if you don't like the results (for example, if the fireworks look too dark). Be careful not to "burn out" the fireworks though. You still want to see color, but don't let them get too dark either.

Note that the longer the exposure gets, the more "noise" you'll pick up. Experimentation is the name of the game here. One day, when I have an extra eight hours or so, I'll do a write up about how to use aperture and shutter speed!

If you've never shot in manual mode before, dig out your instruction manual and start reading. The settings I've given you here should work well, so understanding the "how" of getting it set right is probably more important than the "why."

Okay, that's it for the camera settings. As for actually shooting, just aim for the area where the fireworks are going off and take a lot of photos. It's almost a numbers game. The more you shoot, the better your chances of getting good results.

As for when to shoot, I usually try to click the shutter just as the explosion starts. Since you don't want the camera bouncing around on the tripod, squeeze the shot off slowly.

Also, remember that you're shooting with a digital camera here. Check your images as you go and adjust camera angles, exposure time, etc. along the prices for propecia way.

Hopefully, some or all of the guidelines above will help you. It's a crash course, that's for sure. Use as much as you can and keep in mind that all night time photography falls into the "experimental" category. It takes most photographers a long time to get really good at it, but the important thing is that you give it a try!

Today, I have a free download for you called TrueCrypt. It's a program that allows you to make encrypted virtual drives so that your important data is password protected. While I have reviewed many programs that allow you to password protect certain items on your computer, TrueCrypt is the first one I have found that will allow you to password protect data on a flash drive. That means, when you plug your flash drive into any computer, you will have to enter a password in order to access the files you have encrypted. I think that's awesome and this is the first free program I have been able to find that will do it.

Before I get into the specifics, I want to say how important it is for you to follow these directions carefully. Read over them completely before you do anything, just to make sure you're comfortable with the process. Anyone can do this, as long as you follow along carefully.

First, you will need two things:

1.) A USB flash memory card. Any size is fine, but it must be blank.

2.) The free TrueCrypt software, which you can get here: http://www.truecrypt.org/downloads.php

Okay, here we go!

To begin, download TrueCrypt from the link above and save it to your desktop.

Next, find the file you saved on your desktop and install it. That will install the TrueCrypt program on your computer. It needs to be installed on the computer in order to set up the flash drive, but it will not be needed after that. Choose the Install option and then click Next.

After the installation is complete, plug your flash drive into the computer and allow the system some time to properly recognize and install it. That should happen automatically. Now, go to My Computer and write down the drive letter the system has assigned to your flash drive. On my computer, my flash drive has been assigned the letter J:, but it will probably be different for you. Please make sure you know the drive letter before continuing.

After figuring out the drive letter, close the My Computer screen. There should be a new icon on your desktop for the TrueCrypt program. Double click on that to open it.

When you open the program, you'll see a screen with a bunch of drive letters on it. That screen is used to choose the drive letter that will be assigned to your encrypted files drive. TrueCrypt works by creating a new drive letter for your protected data. Anything you put on the new drive will automatically be secured by your password. We will now put the drive on your blank flash drive.

On the TrueCrypt screen, choose a drive letter by clicking on it. I chose letter X: for my drive, but you can choose any letter you'd like. After selecting a letter, click on the Create Volume button.

Next, we'll go through the settings to create the drive. Please follow along carefully!

The first screen that comes up will ask you what you want to create. Choose the Create a File Container option and then click Next.

The next screen will ask you the volume type. Choose Standard TrueCrypt Volume and then click Next.

The next screen will ask you to choose the volume location. This is where you will need to know the drive letter for your flash drive. You need to tell the program where the encrypted files will be saved. To do that, click on the Select File button. A new prescription for propecia window will open that allows you to look through your files. On that screen, go to My Computer and double click on your flash drive's letter. After doing that, type "encrypted" into the file name box (you can actually type any file name here, I just chose "encrypted"). It should look like this:

Click Save and then click Next.

The next screen asks you about encryption options. You don't need to do anything here, so just click Next.

Okay, now you should be on a screen that says Volume Size. That screen asks how much space you want to use on your flash drive for encrypted files. It will tell you how much space is available, but you don't want to use it all. I chose to use 2,000 MB. That should be plenty.

After choosing your size, click Next. The next screen will ask you for a password. Type in the password you want to use for your files and then confirm it by typing it in again (no checks are needed in the other boxes on the screen). Then click Next. Note: The program will tell you that a very large password is recommended. It's truly up to you how big you want your password to be. There's no point in encrypting your files if you can't remember the password for them later!

The next screen will actually encrypt the folder. The program creates an encryption code based on the movement of your mouse. Just move your mouse around for awhile and then click on the Format button.

Then just wait. This part will take some time. It's formatting the drive so that you can use it.

After it's finished, click OK and then Finish.

We're done with the first part!

The next part is much quicker.

Go back to the main TrueCrypt screen (the one with the drive letters on it). Then go to the Tools menu and click on Traveler Disk Setup.

That will open the area to make the flash drive work on any computer.

You will then see a screen with a few options. Here's what you do:

First, click Browse in the File Settings box. On that screen, select your flash drive's letter (the one you wrote down before) and click OK.

Next, put a dot next to Automount TrueCrypt Volume. Then click Browse in the box below. Click on the file you created in the last set of steps. (I named mine "encrypted," what did you name yours?) Then click Open.

Finally, put a check in the box that says "Open Explorer window for mounted volume." Then click Create. Here's what it should look like:

After clicking Create, you will get a message saying it's done. Click OK and then close out everything.

Congratulations! You're done!

Now, you can disconnect the flash drive and then reconnect it. It should ask you for your password and then open a blank space for you to copy your files.

Note: If you see a screen like this:

Just click Mount TrueCrypt Volume, then OK.

One last thing: In order for this to work correctly, you must be an Administrator on the computer you're plugging the drive into. That's the case most of the time, but if not, you can right click on the drive and choose Run as Administrator. That will fix it.

I know this seems like a lot, but it really only takes a couple minutes if you follow the directions. Plus, if you want to undo everything, all you have to do is go to My Computer, right click on the drive and choose Format. That will make it good as new, removing any changes you made. Enjoy!

Have you ever had the need to view your computer's properties to either change your computer description, PC name or workgroup? Not quite sure how to do it? Well, that's what I'm here to show you today! But before we begin, let me talk a little about the properties we'll be working with. As you probably know, names and locations are used to identify computers on a network. The computer’s name refers to the individual machine and the computer’s location refers to how the machine is grouped together with other computers. Computers anywhere on the network can be located easily through the naming hierarchy and can be addressed individually by name. You can find the name and workgroup (or domain) of a computer on the network by examining the system properties. Workgroups are available on all Windows XP computers, but domains are available only within the Professional edition. So, now that you understand what the Network Computer Properties are all about, let’s get started!

1.) First, click on the Start button and go to the Control Panel (make sure you're in the classic view).

2.) Next, double click on the System icon.

3.) Then click on the Computer Name tab.

In order to change your full computer name or workgroup, you have to click Change and specify a new name. But for the computer description, you can change it right on the application.

4.) Now, I will explain how to change each of the three properties.

Computer Description: To change the computer description, simply highlight the words in the box, hit Backspace and then type in the new description to change it.

Full Computer Name: To change the computer name, click on Change and then go up to the top of the application. Next, highlight the words, hit Backspace and then type in the new name.

Workgroup: To change the workgroup, simply repeat the process you did for the computer name. But, if you want to change the workgroup to a domain, erase the words in Workgroup and click on the little circle next to Domain. Then just type in the new name.

Finally, after you're finished changing your System Properties, click OK.

If a little box pops up after you click OK that says, “You must restart this computer for the changes to take effect,” pharmacy propecia don’t worry, because if you restart your computer after you click OK, all your progress will be saved.

That’s all there is to it! Now, you know where you can go when you need to change your Network Computer Properties. Oh yeah!